The Model 3 mid-size sedan from Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) has recovered the “top pick” designation from Consumer Reports and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) after losing it last month due to the electric car maker’s decision to convert to a camera-based Autopilot system.
What happened was this: After independent tests established the effectiveness of Tesla’s new camera-based automated emergency braking (AEB) and forward-collision warning (FCW) systems, the Model 3’s Top Safety Pick+ status, which is the (IIHS) top safety honor, has been restored.
Consumer Reports is “also restoring the car’s Top Pick status,” as part of its incorporation of IIHS ratings into its recommendations.
Musk said on Twitter that the Top Safety Pick+ is the “highest overall grade,” but that the electric vehicle maker may also obtain “max score for all subcategories/individual tests.”
The Tesla CEO also stated that a retest with new software would take place in about a month. He went on to say, “The new software will then be uploaded to all cars having FSD computers.”
Why Does It Matter? Tesla recently discontinued the use of radar sensors in favor of webcams. According to Musk, camera-based vision is more accurate than radar, and radar adds more noise to a sensor fusion system than useful data.
Also read: What Allows Tesla To Avoid Using Radar? The answer, according to Cathie Wood’s Ark, is here.
The FCW and AEB performance of the Tesla Vision-equipped Model 3 and Model Y had not yet been independently tested when they went on sale.
Price Changes: Tesla’s stock fell 1.16 percent to $680.76 on Tuesday.
For the most up-to-date information on electric vehicles, go to Benzinga’s EV Hub.
(C) 2021 Benzinga.com, courtesy of Tesla. Benzinga does not offer financial advice. All intellectual property rights are reserved.
Continue reading
